Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system for managing messages and message attachments to limited capacity devices, and in particular to limited capacity wireless telephones.
Description of the Related Art
As wireless technologies proliferate, the number and types of devices which utilize such technologies grows at an ever-increasing rate. Although personal computers increasingly use wireless networks, devices which connect to wireless networks are more commonly ones with much more limited processing and memory capacity. Such limited capacity processing devices include PDAs, handheld computers, and mobile telephones. Though limited in power, users nevertheless demand an increasing number of features from such devices. Even wireless telephones have become more powerful with the inclusion of such features as address books, calendars and games. Many now include microprocessors, operating systems and memory which developers to provide limited applications for the phones.
Wireless phones have long been able to read messages via a Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) browser. In this type of system, the user on a wireless telephone connects via the wireless network to a server which enables the phone to read WAP enabled content. Most providers enable a user to access an email message account via the WAP browser, and/or provide short message service (SMS) messages directly to the user's phone. While useful, business users require access to their main email account, and the ability to respond from that account. For example, while an employee of Microsoft will have an address of employee@microsoft.com, the wireless phone message may not be available to connect to Microsoft's mail server to allow the user to access his business message at microsoft.com.
Other devices, which have been combined with wireless phones, such as Research In Motion's Blackberry device, provide a user with enhanced message capabilities and attachment handling. These devices are specifically configured to provide contact and message applications over a wireless network. In general, message received at a user's client computer or message server is forwarded via an agent on the server to the user's Blackberry device. Some provision for handling attachments is provided in a proprietary binary format. See. “Attachment Service”, (http://www.blackberry.com/products/pdfs/WPE-00024-001-attachment_service.pdf) Research in Motion White Paper, Research In Motion Limited, Copyright 2003.
The Blackberry solution is only available on certain types of wireless networks. The variety of different types of wireless phones makes the Research In Motion solution somewhat limited.
SMS allows users to receive abbreviated text messaging directly on the phone. Messages can actually be stored on the phone, but the storage available is limited to a very small amount of memory. In addition, no provision for handling attachments in SMS is available.
With the numerous different types of wireless phones and other communications devices available, a system which will enable a user to accurately manage their own business message account would be highly advantageous if accessible through a wireless phone.